Lubricant such as grease attracts and captures contaminants such as metal shavings, dirt, etc. Without filtration, lubrication performance can be significantly degraded. Further, contaminants in the lubricant can enter the equipment being lubricated and cause damage. Components of the lubrication system itself can also be damaged. In either case, costly machine downtime can result. Filtration systems are designed to remove the contaminants. However, conventional filters suffer several drawbacks. When the filters become clogged, lubricant is either blocked from reaching the lubrication destination, which can cause substantial damage to the equipment needing the lubricant, or bypassed around the filter and delivered, unfiltered, to the lubrication destination, which can cause the contamination problems discussed above. Further, conventional lubrication systems often fail to provide adequate warning of the need for filter replacement before the filter reaches a condition where it is substantially non-functional due to clogging.
There is, therefore, a need for an improved lubricant filtration system.